HST 102 1st Edition Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture II Previously III Part 1 Isolationism and Escalation a Hitler and Mussolini IV Part 2 Rumblings of War a 1940 Election b Lend Lease Act V Part 3 Pass the Ammunition a Atlantic Charter VI Pearl Harbor Outline of Current Lecture VII Mobilizing the Arsenal VIII Women s War IX Race War a Executive Order 9066 b Zoot Suit Riots Current Lecture Arsenal of Democracy America on the Home Front Previously o Massive economic depression in the US o Growing turmoil in Europe and the Pacific o Increasing moves towards military engagement o Breaks out of neutrality position Starts first peacetime military draf By Dec 1941 the US is at war on two fronts The attack on Pearl Harbor Part 1 Mobilizing the Arsenal o Economic Transformation These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Federal spending explodes and kicks economic production into high gear o 1 3 of all economic activity is for the war effort Industrial production doubles Out produce the Axis 4 1 Spawns mass migrations to cities Farewell to Depression Unemployment under 3 by the end of 1942 Under 1 for part of 1944 Family incomes and consumer spending increase dramatically A new era of economic prosperity sets in o 17 mill jobs are created during the war Unions and the War Maintaining steady labor is key to wartime production The federal gov t bargains with organized labor Labor gets 9 bill federal budget in 1939 100 bill budget in 1945 Maintenance of membership agreement automatically enrolled in unions Membership grows by 30 Employers get The Little Steel formula A 15 cap on wartime wage increases No Strike pledge unions agree not to stop production But strikes continue over 15 000 work stoppages and public anger with organized labor grows Part 2 Women s War o Women and Wartime Industry 6 5 mill women enter the labor force between 1941 45 a 60 increase 40 of all adult women are in the workforce by 1944 o o Wages of women factory workers are up over 50 during the first two years of the war Women enter new jobs and industries Military Service More than 350 000 women serve during the war Some serve as nurses Even more serve in auxiliary corps for every branch Women s Army Corps WACs Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services WAVES A Revolution Many understood women s increased employment as a temporary phenomenon Changes prove to be short lived The vast majority of women will lose or leave their jobs at the end of war Return to domestic life Enter gender segregated types of employment Part 3 Race War o Asian Americans Asian immigrants had been longstanding targets of prejudice and exclusion Increasing efforts to prohibit immigration and citizenship rights since the 1880s o o Asians were deemed unassimilable and were not allowed to become citizens Questioning Loyalty The attack at Pearl Harbor and declaration of war provokes a new wave of antiJapanese sentiment All people of Japanese descent are presumed to be potentially disloyal a fifh column Issei are immediately declared enemy aliens and placed under curfew travel restrictions and other limitations Executive Order 9066 By January 1942 increasing calls for the complete expulsion and confinement of all people of Japanese descent from the West Coast Feb 1942 FDR issues Executive Order 9066 o Internment 10 days later Lt Gen John Dewitt designates the entire West Coast of the United States as a military area In March the Army issues exclusion orders for all people of Japanese descent 120 000 people are ultimately imprisoned Removed first to assembly centers and then to relocation centers o Bans on speaking Japanese assembly their property was disposed of Life in the Camps Built in hostile climates and isolated from contact with other communities Each family receives a 16x20 foot room Poor housing sanitation medical care and food Underpaid and exploited labor But the communities band together to create a sense of solidarity pride and some quality of life o Secretary of War and designated commanders can establish military areas and exclude any people they wish from the region Some voluntarily stripped their citizenship and sent back to Japan Battling Jim Crow Significant discrimination throughout American society Military Strictly segregated Navy and Coast Guard only accept black Americans for manual labor and kitchen work Marine Corps and Army Air Corps bar African Americans entirely Economy African Americans make up only 3 of the defense industry Hate strikes in response to black hiring o March on Washington Mvmt Organized by labor activated A Philip Randolph in 1941 Protesting segregation in wartime industry Promises that 100 000 AA will march on the capital Negotiates a stop to the march in exchange for Executive Order 8801 1941 o o Prohibits discriminations The Double V Wary of the racial backlash that occurred afer WW1 AA adopt a domestic protest agenda The Pittsburgh Courier coins the phrase Double V in 1941 Victory at home victory abroad Concerns mount as race riots explode in Detroit and Harlem Transforming Civil Rights Steady protests results in significant gains for African Americans Military AA admitted into all military branches in 1943 One million men and women serve Economic New labor opportunities and protections Growth in federal employment Public Opinion Expansions of voting rights o Changes in racial knowledge o o South doubles number of AA votes By 1946 a poll found that 60 believed the races were equal Chicanos and the War WW2 is a key turning point in Mexican American history 350 000 Chicanos serve in the armed services during the war o o Expanded economic opportunities available for Chicano men and women Strengthen advocacy organizations to fight for greater citizenship rights Zoot Suits Riots Anti Chicano violence flares in the Summer of 1943 Servicemen initiate a series of attacks on Chicano youths in LA wearing Zoot Suits Beat and strip a number of young men over a 10 day span Press blames Mexican Americans for the assaults and it is the Chicano victims who wind up arrested for disturbing the peace Question the patriotism and belonging of Mexican Americans What does it mean WW1 as a watershed moment on a number of levels Prolonged mobilization creates profound social and economic transformations New series of challenges and opportunities for minority groups But the length of the way also brings many